Betsie Norris' personal quest propels Adoption Network Cleveland's search for answers: She started nonprofit 20 years ago
Ewinger, James. Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 20, 2008.
The roots of Adoption Network Cleveland grow out of BetsieNorris' quest for her own.
She is an adoptee. She found her birth parents 22 years ago and two years later founded the network in her living room.
Norris has been seeking ever since -- to open records to adults who were adopted, to help people find their own birth relatives and, indirectly, homes for thousands of children stuck in the gray abyss of foster care and county custody.
If that makes her sound like a tireless crusader, it would make her late, adoptive father proud and show just how much influence such a parent can have.
He was WilliamB. (Brad) Norris, a towering man in every sense.
BradNorris was tall, magisterial and driven by a passion for public service. He was a partner at the Hahn Loeser law firm, campaigned with others to put WCPN FM/90.3 on the air, joined the fight against the county's plan to pave over Shaker Lakes and represented Cleveland in its antitrust case against CEI.
At 16, in World War II, he was also the youngest platoon leader in his rifle company as it fought its way across southern France.
Betsie Norris, the gentle warrior, is driven by her knowledge of the man who raised her and her curiosity about the birth parents who did not.
It is not a frivolous or selfish quest and cannot be dismissed as idle curiosity.
There are emotional issues that go with the knowledge of being adopted and some that flow from a lack of knowledge, including the medical histories of people who came before them.
Then there is a sense of shame that can seep out of the secrecy that enveloped the adoption process.
And finally, there is the concern about how the search will affect the birth family, and the adoptive family.
"You don't know how many times I went to call the agency that handled my adoption and slammed the phone book shut because I thought it was selfish and it might hurt my parents," Norris said.
When an adoptee says "my parents," the reference is to the people who did the raising. As Norris said of her birth parents, "I am their daughter, but they are not my parents."
She found the couple from which she sprang, and it had a happy ending. She was embraced by her blood siblings and was in two of their weddings.
But Norris rarely uses the word "ending."
Historically adoption was viewed as an event that occurred, then people moved on. "Adoption is a lifelong process," Norris said. "There is so much more to it that unfolds over the years."
After World War II, many restrictions were placed on adoption records, in part to insulate the adoptees from the birth parents, Norris said.
However, many courts and state legislatures have been loosening the reins, especially in the past 20 years.
But not in Ohio. Last week, a pending bill was gutted of any language that would have given adoptees access to their original birth records.
One of the great ironies is that attorney Brad Norris played a major role in closing Ohio records. Betsie Norris said her father reacted to the ease with which he - or anyone else - could get birth records. His intent was to keep the public at bay, not the adoptees and birth parents.
But the legislature of 40 years ago went so far that anyone adopted after 1964 cannot get the records - their own records. Brad Norris in 1994 said the law created an absurd situation because two of his adopted children, born before 1964, have access. But his youngest son, born in 1963 but adopted the following year, does not.
Which is not to say that such searches are impossible. One of Adoption Network Cleveland's fortes is assisting people who want to find their birth parents.
But that is not the extent of its work. With "adoption" in its name, one might suppose that the network does a lot of placement work. One would be half-right.
The network is not a placement agency but has reshaped the way those organizations - both public and private - do business.
For example, CuyahogaCounty had 2,000 children in permanent custody eight years ago. Today the number is 783, ranging from infants to older teens, thanks to the network.
JimMcCafferty, director of the county's Department of Children and Family Services, said Norris and her group were chosen as the lead agency to formulate new adoption strategies that placement agencies could use.
One is Child Centered Recruitment, which gives a social worker a small caseload, so he or she can get to know the children, and get to know people who know the children, which makes it easier to find adoptive homes.
Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Peter Sikora said, "One of the court's most difficult jobs is when we grant permanent custody to children and Family Services." He said the court and the county then "are making a pledge to these kids that we will do better by them."
Sikora also said that if the child has no permanent home by the age of 18 "we've failed them." He said the network is one of the most effective means of making sure the children and teens "don't age out of the system" before finding a home.
Another feat is the expansion of the number of local therapists who understand issues unique to adoption.
The idea was to educate established psychologists and social workers, said ZoeBreenWood, director of field education at Case's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
The issues include the sense of loss that adoptees and birth parents can feel, she said, as well as adopted children's difficulty in identifying with an adoptive family or with establishing a sense of their own identity.
Wood said the Adoption Network is the only organization in the country that deals with all the issues, all the organizations and all the members of extended families before, during and long after the adoption has been formalized.
In 20 years, it has grown from an all-volunteer group to a private nonprofit with an annual budget of $2.8 million.
More information about Adoption Network Cleveland is available at 216-325-1000 or www.adoptionnetwork.org
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Link to learn more about SB 163
Foster care regulation sought
Selak, Ron. Tribune Chronicle. April 7, 2008.
WARREN — A push in Columbus to improve Ohio’s foster care system would increase background check requirements on foster parents and put in place safeguards to keep some adults from entering the system.
Senate Bill 163 is a companion piece to one lawmakers passed earlier this year that increases foster parent training from 12 to 36 hours and has a provision for improved care and placement of developmentally and mentally disabled foster kids. It becomes law on May 15.
Child protection advocates hope the measures go a long way toward upgrading the system in the wake of the 2006 death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel, who died after being tied up and wrapped in a blanket when his foster parents went on a weekend trip.
‘‘We believe that the two bills help us and agencies like Trumbull County Children Services to recruit good people and support those people to become good foster parents,’’ said Greg Kapcar of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
Trumbull CSB already requires 39 hours of training for foster parents.
The measure still being discussed would add mandatory FBI criminal background checks on all foster and adoptive parent applicants and adults in the home and add their fingerprints to a statewide database.
Included is a way to notify agencies if a licensed foster parent is convicted of or pleads guilty to any of several offenses related to sex, robbery and burglary and drugs, among many others.
Some of the safeguard provisions include expanding the list of prohibited offenses to include, among others, identity fraud, cruelty to animals and inciting violence. There’s also a ban on becoming a foster parent in Ohio if a foster care license was revoked in another state within five years prior to the Ohio application.
Trumbull CSB director Marcia Tiger said she doesn’t think the new rules would scare off potential foster parents. The process of becoming certified is intrusive already, she said.
‘‘The people know that there is going to be a lot of digging into their stuff,’’ she said.
Cynthia Mason, supervisor of Trumbull CSB’s resource department, said potential foster parents undergo financial audits, psychological evaluations and police checks in communities where they previously lived. Applicants who lived outside of Ohio within five years undergo an FBI check, and the others are given a background check through the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation.
Other adults in the home also are inspected as well, Mason said.
And if someone mentions they were a Boy Scout pack leader, Tiger says, workers try to track people down to inquire about that experience.
‘‘Anything with children, we have to go back and determine if it was a good experience,’’ Tiger said.
For more information on Senate Bill 163, the measure that would strengthen requirements on foster parents, see www.pcsao.org or www.legislature.state.oh.us/
Selak, Ron. Tribune Chronicle. April 7, 2008.
WARREN — A push in Columbus to improve Ohio’s foster care system would increase background check requirements on foster parents and put in place safeguards to keep some adults from entering the system.
Senate Bill 163 is a companion piece to one lawmakers passed earlier this year that increases foster parent training from 12 to 36 hours and has a provision for improved care and placement of developmentally and mentally disabled foster kids. It becomes law on May 15.
Child protection advocates hope the measures go a long way toward upgrading the system in the wake of the 2006 death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel, who died after being tied up and wrapped in a blanket when his foster parents went on a weekend trip.
‘‘We believe that the two bills help us and agencies like Trumbull County Children Services to recruit good people and support those people to become good foster parents,’’ said Greg Kapcar of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
Trumbull CSB already requires 39 hours of training for foster parents.
The measure still being discussed would add mandatory FBI criminal background checks on all foster and adoptive parent applicants and adults in the home and add their fingerprints to a statewide database.
Included is a way to notify agencies if a licensed foster parent is convicted of or pleads guilty to any of several offenses related to sex, robbery and burglary and drugs, among many others.
Some of the safeguard provisions include expanding the list of prohibited offenses to include, among others, identity fraud, cruelty to animals and inciting violence. There’s also a ban on becoming a foster parent in Ohio if a foster care license was revoked in another state within five years prior to the Ohio application.
Trumbull CSB director Marcia Tiger said she doesn’t think the new rules would scare off potential foster parents. The process of becoming certified is intrusive already, she said.
‘‘The people know that there is going to be a lot of digging into their stuff,’’ she said.
Cynthia Mason, supervisor of Trumbull CSB’s resource department, said potential foster parents undergo financial audits, psychological evaluations and police checks in communities where they previously lived. Applicants who lived outside of Ohio within five years undergo an FBI check, and the others are given a background check through the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation.
Other adults in the home also are inspected as well, Mason said.
And if someone mentions they were a Boy Scout pack leader, Tiger says, workers try to track people down to inquire about that experience.
‘‘Anything with children, we have to go back and determine if it was a good experience,’’ Tiger said.
For more information on Senate Bill 163, the measure that would strengthen requirements on foster parents, see www.pcsao.org or www.legislature.state.oh.us/
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Jim McCafferty does not mince words about SACWIS
Cuyahoga County snubs state foster care computers; too many problems county says
Marshall, Aaron. Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 28, 2008.
Ohio has spent more than $90 million over the past decade trying to launch a computer system to keep track of tens of thousands of children across the state placed in foster care each year.
But Cuyahoga County officials say the system simply does not work, and they refuse to sign on to it, as state officials have ordered them to do by June 23.
"We have grave concerns about the system," said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services. "We will be a partner and come on when it's functioning properly and not before. "
The statewide system is supposed to allow child-welfare officials to access real-time information from anywhere in the state.
They can't get into the system to correct errors or find out which caseworkers are assigned to cases. Some counties have resorted to using spreadsheets to keep track of kids because of inaccurate or unavailable data.
The program's fiscal component has been added in only eight counties because of recurring problems that prevent counties from properly filing for reimbursement from the federal government. Columbiana and Licking counties even had to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state after the system failed.
A history of problems.
Ohio Works
• Perhaps the most high-profile failure was the $60 million Ohio Works job-matching system, hated by both workers and employers. The department pulled the plug in 2001 on the difficult-to-navigate system, which was the signature technology project of former human services director Arnold Tompkins. Tompkins was convicted of ethics charges related to accepting a $10,000-a-month consulting contract from the firm that developed Ohio Works.
Support Enforcement Tracking System
• Problems with the state's $250 million Support Enforcement Tracking System, known as SETS, contributed to $17 million in federal fines and numerous complaints about late and incorrect child-support payments. Because of a programming problem, the system improperly withheld money from former welfare recipients, which the state had to repay in 2002 and 2003. The problems subsided after a new contractor took over.
Ohio Helps
• A $2 million program called "Ohio Helps" that was intended to refer citizens to emergency-service providers had to be scrapped in 2001 because much of the information on it was wrong.
But counties that have joined the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, or SACWIS, say it is plagued by crashes, glitches and access problems.
Officials at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services have a markedly different view of the information system. While acknowledging the rollout has been problematic, they say counties that have gone the extra mile are getting a system that largely works. Some counties haven't bought into the program and aren't trying to work through the problems, state officials say.
"We need their full cooperation, and they have to be ready to do it philosophically," said Fred Williams, the department's deputy director for the division overseeing the program. "We are pushing hard to do anything and everything we can to help out partners at the county level."
State officials see no reason to wait to roll out the program -- something they had to do for several months at the end of 2007 after a complete system failure.
"It's more important to get all of the counties in the system than it is to continue to search for the perfect system," said Williams.
But McCafferty is concerned that the system won't adequately protect the roughly 40,000 kids who pass through Cuyahoga County's child welfare system -- about one-fourth of the state's foster care caseload. On Wednesday, during a closed-door meeting, county commissioners agreed to send a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland saying the county would not join the system by the June deadline.
A draft of the letter, obtained by The Plain Dealer, says the county believes that the system, at its current stage of development, has potential to place children at risk.
No one can seriously argue that the system works, the letter says.
It informs Strickland that there are 13 show stoppers or "stematic problems so dire that we can neither perform nor manage basic child protection-related activities. "
"The information system does not need enhancing; it needs fixing," the letter states.
The county's position: the problems must be resolved, the counties now in the new system must be satisfied, and the system must perform as well as Cuyahoga's current system for 60 days. The county has spent $20 million over the last decade building its own system, the letter says, because it could not rely on the state to provide one.
A succession of state bureaucrats have been trying since the mid-1990s to implement a statewide system for tracking foster children.
The hope was that such a system could help prevent tragedies such as the death of Marcus Fiesel, a Cincinnati-area child who died in August 2006 after his foster parents left him bound in a closet for two days while attending a family reunion.
Eric Fenner, director of Franklin County Job and Family Services, the largest metropolitan county to join the new tracking system so far, said McCafferty's stance makes sense.
"His unwillingness to go live with the system until the system is fixed is wise," Fenner said. "I wish I was in his shoes."
He said his staff has had major, major problems with the system since linking to it in July 2007. While some issues have been addressed, Fenner said the system's inability to generate management reports that drill down into caseloads and trends leaves him at a serious disadvantage.
"Just imagine you're flying a 747 and all of the dials in the cockpit are dark," said Fenner. "We rely on management reports to tell us how we re doing and what problems there are in the organization." He called the information that can be compiled in the new system basically useless without the management reports.
State officials say some management reports are available now.
"They have the ability to generate reports --they just have to learn how to develop the reports through the template in the system,"said Scarlett Bouder, an ODJFS spokeswoman. Deputy Director Williams downplayed the importance of the management reports, calling them "icing on the cake. "
That drew a sharp response from Fenner.
"I'm almost speechless with that -- the management reports are critically important in trying to manage a complex, metropolitan child-welfare system," he said.
Another major problem for Franklin County: A system that forces state computer specialists to correct any mistakes made when entering data so something as simple as a transposed case number or misspelled name can mean a two-week delay.
"During that wait time our data is not up to par," said Michele Bullock, Franklin County's specialist for the tracking system. "So we have to use backup systems for everything. We are basically doing double work to make sure we know where children are on a daily basis."
Bouder says that problem is being solved. "We are developing a fix for that," she said. It s in the mix.
But for McCafferty, the reliance on back-up systems to track kids shows the depth of the problems with the new design. "What kind of child welfare system do you have where you don't know where kids are?"
Other counties are also rebelling. Last week, child welfare agency heads in Cuyahoga and 10 other counties sent a letter to the state saying they won't be part of the new system until it is successfully rolled out in Hamilton County and the current problems are resolved.
As the chorus grows, the head of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, the umbrella group representing Ohio s child-welfare agencies, wonders what the big rush is all about.
"It's unfathomable to me to continue to want counties to roll onto it when they know they aren't having success with the current users," said the association s Crystal Allen Ward.
But state officials say the system needs to be up and running because the $37.5 million contract given to Dynamics Research Corp. of Andover, Mass., to develop the system is up at the end of this fiscal year June 30.
"We operate on fiscal quarters," said Williams. "We have to complete the rollout by the end of the fiscal year."
A spokeswoman for Dynamics Research echoed Williams assertion that cooperation was the key to getting the system running properly.
"The nature of these systems are that they are very complex, so every state is going to be unique," said Duyen Truong."It's a project that requires cooperation at both ends at both the state level as well as the county level. [Dynamics Research] is essentially a provider of the system itself. There are certain areas where our role kind of stops."
Marshall, Aaron. Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 28, 2008.
Ohio has spent more than $90 million over the past decade trying to launch a computer system to keep track of tens of thousands of children across the state placed in foster care each year.
But Cuyahoga County officials say the system simply does not work, and they refuse to sign on to it, as state officials have ordered them to do by June 23.
"We have grave concerns about the system," said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services. "We will be a partner and come on when it's functioning properly and not before. "
The statewide system is supposed to allow child-welfare officials to access real-time information from anywhere in the state.
They can't get into the system to correct errors or find out which caseworkers are assigned to cases. Some counties have resorted to using spreadsheets to keep track of kids because of inaccurate or unavailable data.
The program's fiscal component has been added in only eight counties because of recurring problems that prevent counties from properly filing for reimbursement from the federal government. Columbiana and Licking counties even had to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state after the system failed.
A history of problems.
Ohio Works
• Perhaps the most high-profile failure was the $60 million Ohio Works job-matching system, hated by both workers and employers. The department pulled the plug in 2001 on the difficult-to-navigate system, which was the signature technology project of former human services director Arnold Tompkins. Tompkins was convicted of ethics charges related to accepting a $10,000-a-month consulting contract from the firm that developed Ohio Works.
Support Enforcement Tracking System
• Problems with the state's $250 million Support Enforcement Tracking System, known as SETS, contributed to $17 million in federal fines and numerous complaints about late and incorrect child-support payments. Because of a programming problem, the system improperly withheld money from former welfare recipients, which the state had to repay in 2002 and 2003. The problems subsided after a new contractor took over.
Ohio Helps
• A $2 million program called "Ohio Helps" that was intended to refer citizens to emergency-service providers had to be scrapped in 2001 because much of the information on it was wrong.
But counties that have joined the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, or SACWIS, say it is plagued by crashes, glitches and access problems.
Officials at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services have a markedly different view of the information system. While acknowledging the rollout has been problematic, they say counties that have gone the extra mile are getting a system that largely works. Some counties haven't bought into the program and aren't trying to work through the problems, state officials say.
"We need their full cooperation, and they have to be ready to do it philosophically," said Fred Williams, the department's deputy director for the division overseeing the program. "We are pushing hard to do anything and everything we can to help out partners at the county level."
State officials see no reason to wait to roll out the program -- something they had to do for several months at the end of 2007 after a complete system failure.
"It's more important to get all of the counties in the system than it is to continue to search for the perfect system," said Williams.
But McCafferty is concerned that the system won't adequately protect the roughly 40,000 kids who pass through Cuyahoga County's child welfare system -- about one-fourth of the state's foster care caseload. On Wednesday, during a closed-door meeting, county commissioners agreed to send a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland saying the county would not join the system by the June deadline.
A draft of the letter, obtained by The Plain Dealer, says the county believes that the system, at its current stage of development, has potential to place children at risk.
No one can seriously argue that the system works, the letter says.
It informs Strickland that there are 13 show stoppers or "stematic problems so dire that we can neither perform nor manage basic child protection-related activities. "
"The information system does not need enhancing; it needs fixing," the letter states.
The county's position: the problems must be resolved, the counties now in the new system must be satisfied, and the system must perform as well as Cuyahoga's current system for 60 days. The county has spent $20 million over the last decade building its own system, the letter says, because it could not rely on the state to provide one.
A succession of state bureaucrats have been trying since the mid-1990s to implement a statewide system for tracking foster children.
The hope was that such a system could help prevent tragedies such as the death of Marcus Fiesel, a Cincinnati-area child who died in August 2006 after his foster parents left him bound in a closet for two days while attending a family reunion.
Eric Fenner, director of Franklin County Job and Family Services, the largest metropolitan county to join the new tracking system so far, said McCafferty's stance makes sense.
"His unwillingness to go live with the system until the system is fixed is wise," Fenner said. "I wish I was in his shoes."
He said his staff has had major, major problems with the system since linking to it in July 2007. While some issues have been addressed, Fenner said the system's inability to generate management reports that drill down into caseloads and trends leaves him at a serious disadvantage.
"Just imagine you're flying a 747 and all of the dials in the cockpit are dark," said Fenner. "We rely on management reports to tell us how we re doing and what problems there are in the organization." He called the information that can be compiled in the new system basically useless without the management reports.
State officials say some management reports are available now.
"They have the ability to generate reports --they just have to learn how to develop the reports through the template in the system,"said Scarlett Bouder, an ODJFS spokeswoman. Deputy Director Williams downplayed the importance of the management reports, calling them "icing on the cake. "
That drew a sharp response from Fenner.
"I'm almost speechless with that -- the management reports are critically important in trying to manage a complex, metropolitan child-welfare system," he said.
Another major problem for Franklin County: A system that forces state computer specialists to correct any mistakes made when entering data so something as simple as a transposed case number or misspelled name can mean a two-week delay.
"During that wait time our data is not up to par," said Michele Bullock, Franklin County's specialist for the tracking system. "So we have to use backup systems for everything. We are basically doing double work to make sure we know where children are on a daily basis."
Bouder says that problem is being solved. "We are developing a fix for that," she said. It s in the mix.
But for McCafferty, the reliance on back-up systems to track kids shows the depth of the problems with the new design. "What kind of child welfare system do you have where you don't know where kids are?"
Other counties are also rebelling. Last week, child welfare agency heads in Cuyahoga and 10 other counties sent a letter to the state saying they won't be part of the new system until it is successfully rolled out in Hamilton County and the current problems are resolved.
As the chorus grows, the head of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, the umbrella group representing Ohio s child-welfare agencies, wonders what the big rush is all about.
"It's unfathomable to me to continue to want counties to roll onto it when they know they aren't having success with the current users," said the association s Crystal Allen Ward.
But state officials say the system needs to be up and running because the $37.5 million contract given to Dynamics Research Corp. of Andover, Mass., to develop the system is up at the end of this fiscal year June 30.
"We operate on fiscal quarters," said Williams. "We have to complete the rollout by the end of the fiscal year."
A spokeswoman for Dynamics Research echoed Williams assertion that cooperation was the key to getting the system running properly.
"The nature of these systems are that they are very complex, so every state is going to be unique," said Duyen Truong."It's a project that requires cooperation at both ends at both the state level as well as the county level. [Dynamics Research] is essentially a provider of the system itself. There are certain areas where our role kind of stops."
Cuyahoga County has 40,000 foster children, nearly a quarter of the state's caseload
Cuyahoga County refuses to join foster care system
Lancaster Eagle Gazette, March 31, 2008.
Cuyahoga County is refusing to join a new statewide computer system for tracking abused and neglected foster children because of continued technical problems, officials said.
The state has ordered the county to sign onto the program by June 23.
In a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland drafted last week, county commissioners in the state’s largest county said they believe the program could place children at risk. The letter obtained by The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer outlines 13 problems “so dire that we can neither perform nor manage basic child protection-related activities.”
The $92 million Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, implemented in more than half of Ohio counties, is designed to collect data on child abuse and neglect cases, making it easier for child welfare agencies to track abusers and victims. Without the system, agencies would have to rely on independent county-by-county databases.
“We have grave concerns about the system,” said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services. “We will be a partner and come on when it’s functioning properly and not before.”
Officials have complained about persistent computer glitches that make the system inaccessible much of the time, and caseworkers have struggled with incomplete records and a backlog of data.
Cuyahoga County handles about 40,000 foster children, nearly a quarter of the state’s caseload. The county has spent $20 million over the last decade to build its own database because it could not rely on the state, the letter said.
Some other counties have abandoned the system and have been using spreadsheets to track cases. Columbiana and Licking counties have borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state after the system failed.
Officials at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services say some counties aren’t fully cooperating with the state, making problems worse. Deputy Director Fred Williams said the state’s priority is to get every county participating, rather than continue to search for “the perfect system.”
“We are pushing hard to do anything and everything we can to help out partners at the county level,” Williams said.
The state must complete the rollout by June 30, when the $37.5 million contract with Dynamics Research Corp. of Andover, Mass. — the company that developed the system — expires.
Since joining the system in July 2007, Franklin County has encountered major problems, said Eric Fenner, director of the county’s Job and Family Services agency. Officials are unable to draft management reports, rendering the system essentially useless, he said.
“Just imagine you’re flying a 747 and all of the dials in the cockpit are dark,” Fenner said. “We rely on management reports to tell us how we’re doing and what problems there are in the organization.”
Only state computer specialists can correct data entry mistakes, which can lead to a two-week delay to fix a misspelled name.
So counties have developed backup systems. “We are basically doing double work to make sure we know where children are on a daily basis,” said Michele Bullock, Franklin County’s specialist for the tracking system.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokeswoman Scarlett Bouder said the state is attempting to solve the delay issues.
Reforming the state’s foster care system became a hot-button issue after a 3-year-old boy was killed near Cincinnati in August 2006. Marcus Fiesel was left bound inside a closet for two days by his foster parents, Liz Carroll and David Carroll Jr.
Both were convicted of murder and are serving life sentences for his death.
Lancaster Eagle Gazette, March 31, 2008.
Cuyahoga County is refusing to join a new statewide computer system for tracking abused and neglected foster children because of continued technical problems, officials said.
The state has ordered the county to sign onto the program by June 23.
In a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland drafted last week, county commissioners in the state’s largest county said they believe the program could place children at risk. The letter obtained by The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer outlines 13 problems “so dire that we can neither perform nor manage basic child protection-related activities.”
The $92 million Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, implemented in more than half of Ohio counties, is designed to collect data on child abuse and neglect cases, making it easier for child welfare agencies to track abusers and victims. Without the system, agencies would have to rely on independent county-by-county databases.
“We have grave concerns about the system,” said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services. “We will be a partner and come on when it’s functioning properly and not before.”
Officials have complained about persistent computer glitches that make the system inaccessible much of the time, and caseworkers have struggled with incomplete records and a backlog of data.
Cuyahoga County handles about 40,000 foster children, nearly a quarter of the state’s caseload. The county has spent $20 million over the last decade to build its own database because it could not rely on the state, the letter said.
Some other counties have abandoned the system and have been using spreadsheets to track cases. Columbiana and Licking counties have borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state after the system failed.
Officials at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services say some counties aren’t fully cooperating with the state, making problems worse. Deputy Director Fred Williams said the state’s priority is to get every county participating, rather than continue to search for “the perfect system.”
“We are pushing hard to do anything and everything we can to help out partners at the county level,” Williams said.
The state must complete the rollout by June 30, when the $37.5 million contract with Dynamics Research Corp. of Andover, Mass. — the company that developed the system — expires.
Since joining the system in July 2007, Franklin County has encountered major problems, said Eric Fenner, director of the county’s Job and Family Services agency. Officials are unable to draft management reports, rendering the system essentially useless, he said.
“Just imagine you’re flying a 747 and all of the dials in the cockpit are dark,” Fenner said. “We rely on management reports to tell us how we’re doing and what problems there are in the organization.”
Only state computer specialists can correct data entry mistakes, which can lead to a two-week delay to fix a misspelled name.
So counties have developed backup systems. “We are basically doing double work to make sure we know where children are on a daily basis,” said Michele Bullock, Franklin County’s specialist for the tracking system.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokeswoman Scarlett Bouder said the state is attempting to solve the delay issues.
Reforming the state’s foster care system became a hot-button issue after a 3-year-old boy was killed near Cincinnati in August 2006. Marcus Fiesel was left bound inside a closet for two days by his foster parents, Liz Carroll and David Carroll Jr.
Both were convicted of murder and are serving life sentences for his death.
Kudos to Frances Strickland for visiting all 88 counties with Ohio Family and Children First
Governor’s wife lauds Seneca County
First Lady learns of local programs for family, children
Kromer, MaryAnn. Tiffin Advertiser Tribune, March 29, 2008.
Seneca County Family and Children First Council had a special visitor Friday — Frances Strickland, wife of Ohio’s governor, Ted Strickland.
As the chairwoman of Ohio Family and Children First, the state’s First Lady is visiting every county to speak with community representatives about their needs, successes and goals. Seneca County was the 42nd stop on the way to 88.
Arriving at 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Strickland spent more than two hours with 31 leaders representing school systems, governmental agencies and organizations in the area.
“One of the reasons Ted wanted me to take this position is that people always matter ... He wants you to know he values everything you do,” Mrs. Strickland said. “The governor appoints the chair of this at the state level. They asked me if I was interested, and he was delighted that I wanted to take it on.”
“We’re very excited to have you on the cabinet council,” said Sharon George, director of the Seneca County Family and Children First Council, who hosted the meeting.
George said she was asked to prepare a presentation to give the first lady a profile of the local population with statistics on income, employment and schools. The program also included the council’s staff, programs, activities, challenges and successes.
Scott Urban of Tiffin City Schools spoke about the 12-15 percent increase in the poverty rate over the last seven years, resulting in more transient families.
He also noted the rising numbers of schoolchildren, especially in the primary grades, with bipolar illness and autism. He said administrators must be able to advise teachers about the agencies and programs available to help children and families.
“Mental health issues are a major challenge to our staff ... They’re the front line of defense in working with these students,” Urban said. “Our staff is dealing with a different group of parents than they’ve had in the past.”
Connie Dorr, assistant superintendent of Fostoria Community Schools, told Mrs. Strickland of difficulties in maintaining regular school attendance and bridging the language barrier. Marjorie Broadhead, director of the Seneca County Health District, shared her concerns about sexually transmitted diseases among youth and about the disintegration of the family. She appealed to Mrs. Strickland to “Help us provide affordable access to care in our county,” including mental health counseling and dental care.
On the positive side, George listed successful efforts FCFC has been able to coordinate. They included: Partnerships for Success, Drug-Free Communities Support Grant;wraparound coordination; school/agency consortiums; multi-systemic therapy; teen pregnancy prevention, resulting in 25 percent reduction of births to unwed mothers; Scholastic book distribution and volunteer reading program; and mentoring programs with Ridge Mentoring Center.
George said future projects include establishing a pre-teen center, bringing Big Brothers/Big Sisters back to Seneca County, fatherhood initiatives, and family coaching and mentoring. Strickland expressed interest in having teleconferences in which people from Seneca County could make presentations about the Parenting Passport and other successful programs with the state FCFC cabinet and with other counties.
Mrs. Strickland said she was encouraged at the level of collaboration Seneca County entities already had achieved.
“This county seems to be leaders in seeing the community as a whole. They seem to see the social service system here as a unit working together. That’s the way we want to go in the future,” Strickland said. “You all are operating at the level I was hoping to find in the second round. ... You realize that you’re better together than you are separate.”
The two main concerns that Strickland has heard at nearly every stop are the need for flexible funding, such as block grants, and the rise of mental illnesses, such as substance abuse and depression, among youth and their families. Strickland said she is learning more about what local agencies are dealing with and about the “complicated lives” of clients. Before departing, she asked those attending to pinpoint the outdated policies that are hampering their effectiveness and inform her of possible solutions and outcomes.
Having been trained as psychologists, the Stricklands both have worked with at-risk citizens. The first lady said her goals include establishing trust between the public and government and approaching problems with optimism that they can be solved. She said the governor plans to “be out” having forums for other programs, as well.
“Ted’s and my greatest fear is getting insulated from the real world up there at the state level. He came out of the trenches. I did too. We were always complaining that ‘somebody at the state level needs to know this.’ We want to make sure we allow that openness of communication and those good ideas to make it to the top,” Mrs. Strickland said. “This was the best road for me to do that, that I could think of.”
Her next stop was Kenton and the Hardin County FCFC. The winter weather only canceled two of her planned visits. Mrs. Strickland said she will do a follow-up in all the counties this fall in hopes of obtaining more details and specific needs.
“We might have more specific questions we want to ask about ideas we’re having.” Strickland said. “We think as people become more aware of the direction we need to go as a state, there will be a greater understanding about how to make the best use of our funds.”
Mrs. Strickland encouraged Seneca County to continue the “creative and innovative” strategies they have been using to collaborate and use pooled funds across multiple agencies. She said Ohioans can be very generous when they understand goals and methods of achieving them.
“People get satisfaction out of solving problems. They care, and they like to show that they care, but nobody wants to support something they don’t understand,” Strickland said. “You’re trying to solve your problems, and that’s what we really want.”
First Lady learns of local programs for family, children
Kromer, MaryAnn. Tiffin Advertiser Tribune, March 29, 2008.
Seneca County Family and Children First Council had a special visitor Friday — Frances Strickland, wife of Ohio’s governor, Ted Strickland.
As the chairwoman of Ohio Family and Children First, the state’s First Lady is visiting every county to speak with community representatives about their needs, successes and goals. Seneca County was the 42nd stop on the way to 88.
Arriving at 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Strickland spent more than two hours with 31 leaders representing school systems, governmental agencies and organizations in the area.
“One of the reasons Ted wanted me to take this position is that people always matter ... He wants you to know he values everything you do,” Mrs. Strickland said. “The governor appoints the chair of this at the state level. They asked me if I was interested, and he was delighted that I wanted to take it on.”
“We’re very excited to have you on the cabinet council,” said Sharon George, director of the Seneca County Family and Children First Council, who hosted the meeting.
George said she was asked to prepare a presentation to give the first lady a profile of the local population with statistics on income, employment and schools. The program also included the council’s staff, programs, activities, challenges and successes.
Scott Urban of Tiffin City Schools spoke about the 12-15 percent increase in the poverty rate over the last seven years, resulting in more transient families.
He also noted the rising numbers of schoolchildren, especially in the primary grades, with bipolar illness and autism. He said administrators must be able to advise teachers about the agencies and programs available to help children and families.
“Mental health issues are a major challenge to our staff ... They’re the front line of defense in working with these students,” Urban said. “Our staff is dealing with a different group of parents than they’ve had in the past.”
Connie Dorr, assistant superintendent of Fostoria Community Schools, told Mrs. Strickland of difficulties in maintaining regular school attendance and bridging the language barrier. Marjorie Broadhead, director of the Seneca County Health District, shared her concerns about sexually transmitted diseases among youth and about the disintegration of the family. She appealed to Mrs. Strickland to “Help us provide affordable access to care in our county,” including mental health counseling and dental care.
On the positive side, George listed successful efforts FCFC has been able to coordinate. They included: Partnerships for Success, Drug-Free Communities Support Grant;wraparound coordination; school/agency consortiums; multi-systemic therapy; teen pregnancy prevention, resulting in 25 percent reduction of births to unwed mothers; Scholastic book distribution and volunteer reading program; and mentoring programs with Ridge Mentoring Center.
George said future projects include establishing a pre-teen center, bringing Big Brothers/Big Sisters back to Seneca County, fatherhood initiatives, and family coaching and mentoring. Strickland expressed interest in having teleconferences in which people from Seneca County could make presentations about the Parenting Passport and other successful programs with the state FCFC cabinet and with other counties.
Mrs. Strickland said she was encouraged at the level of collaboration Seneca County entities already had achieved.
“This county seems to be leaders in seeing the community as a whole. They seem to see the social service system here as a unit working together. That’s the way we want to go in the future,” Strickland said. “You all are operating at the level I was hoping to find in the second round. ... You realize that you’re better together than you are separate.”
The two main concerns that Strickland has heard at nearly every stop are the need for flexible funding, such as block grants, and the rise of mental illnesses, such as substance abuse and depression, among youth and their families. Strickland said she is learning more about what local agencies are dealing with and about the “complicated lives” of clients. Before departing, she asked those attending to pinpoint the outdated policies that are hampering their effectiveness and inform her of possible solutions and outcomes.
Having been trained as psychologists, the Stricklands both have worked with at-risk citizens. The first lady said her goals include establishing trust between the public and government and approaching problems with optimism that they can be solved. She said the governor plans to “be out” having forums for other programs, as well.
“Ted’s and my greatest fear is getting insulated from the real world up there at the state level. He came out of the trenches. I did too. We were always complaining that ‘somebody at the state level needs to know this.’ We want to make sure we allow that openness of communication and those good ideas to make it to the top,” Mrs. Strickland said. “This was the best road for me to do that, that I could think of.”
Her next stop was Kenton and the Hardin County FCFC. The winter weather only canceled two of her planned visits. Mrs. Strickland said she will do a follow-up in all the counties this fall in hopes of obtaining more details and specific needs.
“We might have more specific questions we want to ask about ideas we’re having.” Strickland said. “We think as people become more aware of the direction we need to go as a state, there will be a greater understanding about how to make the best use of our funds.”
Mrs. Strickland encouraged Seneca County to continue the “creative and innovative” strategies they have been using to collaborate and use pooled funds across multiple agencies. She said Ohioans can be very generous when they understand goals and methods of achieving them.
“People get satisfaction out of solving problems. They care, and they like to show that they care, but nobody wants to support something they don’t understand,” Strickland said. “You’re trying to solve your problems, and that’s what we really want.”
No SACWIS for Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County Refuses To Join State Foster Care Database
NewsNet5.com, March 30, 2008.
(CLEVELAND, Ohio) Cuyahoga County officials are refusing to join a new statewide computer system for tracking abused and neglected foster children because of continued technical problems.
The state has ordered the county to sign onto the program by June 23.
In a letter to Gov. Trd Strickland, county commissioners said they believe the program could place children at risk due to severe glitches.
The $92 million Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System is designed to collect data on child abuse and neglect cases. It replaces independent county-by-county databases.
Some counties have abandoned the flawed system for spreadsheets to track cases. Officials cite computer glitches that make the system inaccessible, and caseworkers have struggled with incomplete records and a data backlog.
NewsNet5.com, March 30, 2008.
(CLEVELAND, Ohio) Cuyahoga County officials are refusing to join a new statewide computer system for tracking abused and neglected foster children because of continued technical problems.
The state has ordered the county to sign onto the program by June 23.
In a letter to Gov. Trd Strickland, county commissioners said they believe the program could place children at risk due to severe glitches.
The $92 million Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System is designed to collect data on child abuse and neglect cases. It replaces independent county-by-county databases.
Some counties have abandoned the flawed system for spreadsheets to track cases. Officials cite computer glitches that make the system inaccessible, and caseworkers have struggled with incomplete records and a data backlog.
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